The Match
by Bianca Roze
Summary: When children are born they are given a necklace that has only one match. When the matching necklaces owners decide they are ready they go on the Journey to find their other match, their necklaces will start to beat with the matches' heartbeats and slowly turn blue the closer they get to each other. Join Lauren as she takes on the Journey to find her match.


Bianca Cook

"Charlie, get in here!" Lauren shouted into the living room of her small apartment in Blair, Oregon. She was trying to get her suitcase zipped, but no matter how hard she pushed the last pair jeans didn't want to fit. Charlie shuffled in and, seeing her struggle, plopped himself onto the suitcase. With one last tug the bright orange suitcase closed shut. Lauren crawled onto her bed and lay down on her back, staring at the plastic, glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. Charlie got up from the suitcase to lie beside her.

"You don't have to go," he said for what seemed like the millionth time. "Your match can just come find you."

Lauren sighed and turned on her stomach. "I want to," she said. "Besides, I can't wait. He's already coming for me."

"It could be a she," he corrected. It was true. Every once in a while a person's match would be the same gender, but those were rare. He touched the ruby red pendant that hung from a chain around his neck. "I hope mine doesn't come for a while."

"Well, maybe they're thinking the same thing," Lauren told him. She turned to him and whispered what she feared the most. "What if he's disappointed?"

Charlie reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "He won't."

Lauren was lying in bed at 5:30 in the morning. She knew that she should be up getting ready for the Journey, but she was too nervous. She was staring into the pendant she had gotten at birth. It was mostly red, except for a little bit of blue seeping down like vines from the top of the jewel. _It would be all blue soon_ , she thought and the idea made her shiver.

Two nights ago, Lauren had woken up in the middle of the night. She could hear a thumping sound, as though someone was knocking on her ears. A jolt went through her body as she realized what it must be and when she touched her pendant she knew she had been right. It had started beating like a heart. Not just any heart, but the heart of her match, the one she would be with forever. She closed her hand around the pendant, feeling the steady beat of it. The beating of the necklace meant that her match had started looking for her. As the last two days had passed, the blue started dripping into the red color. It still wasn't even close to filling the heart, which meant that he was very far away still.

Some people were lucky, like her Aunt Delores, who had found her match just a state away. Others found them in countries across the world; Ireland, Australia, and China. When she had talked to her mother, Jessica, about feeling the beat, she told Lauren that since the blue was moving so slowly he was very far away, on another continent more than likely. That's why Lauren was traveling on a plane in a few hours to a town near Lisbon, Portugal. From there she would travel by car, bus, and train to find her match. She had all types of clothes in her suitcases, from shorts and tank tops to boots and snow pants. Hopefully she wouldn't need all of it, but it was better to be prepared for this trip. It was the most important thing of someone's life. Sometimes it takes years to find someone's match. Lauren prayed it wouldn't take her that long.

Lauren yawned and stretched before getting out of her bed and into the shower. When she had washed and brushed her long black hair, she pulled it into a braid and put on the clothes Charlie had set out for her. If it wasn't for him, Lauren would always be dressed in sweatpants. Instead she was wearing dark jeans and a chic green jacket with gold highlights. She glanced in the mirror and noticed the black circles under her eyes from staying up late in the night thinking about this day. She shrugged and then went to the lobby of the complex to meet up with her parents and Charlie.

After a fifteen minute standstill in the lobby, with Jessica breaking out into tears, her father, Michael, trying to comfort mother, and Charlie awkwardly standing there trying not to laugh, everyone finally piled into the van to head to the airport. It was seven ten by the time they were driving away, but they needed to make an hour drive in forty-five minutes. Lauren sighed and leaned back in her seat as Jessica talked about how much she would miss her baby. Lauren knew she should be considerate of her mother's feelings but she was tired and Jessica always got emotional over everything. She cried for an hour once when she burned a pan of cookies. That's probably why she was matched with Michael. He was solid like a rock, someone to lean against. He was also very kind, sneaking Lauren an extra cookie when Jessica had said she'd had enough.

They pulled up at the Portland airport with ten minutes to get through security. They ran inside and made it through all the checkpoints just in time. Lauren handed the woman at the doors leading to the plane her ticket and turned around to say goodbye to everybody. They all stood there, not knowing how to say goodbye. Nobody had any idea how long Lauren would be gone. Finally, Michael opened his arms and Lauren barreled into them.

"I love you," he told her. "And remember, it's the journey that counts. Because who knows if he'll have a huge boil on his nose." Lauren smiled and backed away to see tears forming in Michael's eyes.

"I love you, too," she whispered and then turned to Jessica who grabbed a hold of Lauren and kept her at arm's length. Jessica's eyes were the same shade of blue as Lauren's, but Jessica's were red rimmed from crying all morning. "I'll miss you so much Mom," Lauren told her. "Remember that I'm coming back, okay?"

Jessica just nodded her head before bursting into tears again. Michael pulled her over to him so that Lauren could say goodbye to Charlie. She turned to look at his freckled covered face. He was grinning but it looked sad. "You don't have to go," he told her.

"I want to," she whispered before pulling his thin frame into a hug. "Make sure you call me every night, okay?"

"Okay." They broke apart and then it was time for her to board the plane. She waved goodbye to all of them before they disappeared behind the door. Lauren's heart was pounding and she wondered if her match could feel it. She got into her seat (thankfully by a window) and looked down at the pendant. There was so little blue, she wondered if he had stopped looking for her. She shook off the thought and asked the flight attendant for a pillow. The whole affair with her family had been awfully tiring. She tried to get some much needed sleep on the long plane trip ahead.

Four hours later, Lauren was in the Chicago OHare International Airport. In an hour, the plane heading to Lisbon, Portugal was leaving. She was in the restroom, brushing her teeth and splashing water on her face. She had spent most of the ride sleeping but then a very noisy business man had answered a phone call right next to her and she had spent an hour listening to him shout about a shipment of three hundred pairs of shoes.

Lauren was walking around, trying to find a place that would sell headphones when she heard a shrieking sound by a beautiful fountain in the center of the airport. A bedraggled looking woman around the age of thirty to forty was running _through_ the fountain, getting what looked like designer jeans very wet and splashing everyone around her. A crowd had formed, trying to see what was happening. Someone pointed and Lauren turned to look over there. A man around the same age, who looked just as crazy as the woman, was swinging his pendant over his head, sprinting over to the woman in the fountain. He jumped in and slipped, falling to his knees. In the next second the woman was on top of him, showering him with thousands of kisses. The crowd was applauding, but Lauren couldn't help but feel sick.

She ran back to the bathroom feeling like she was going to cry. By the looks of it, the matched couple had been looking for each other for ten years at least. What if it took that long to find her match? She splashed water onto her face again before looking at her reflection. What if he didn't act like the man in the fountain? What if he didn't care at all? She tried to push the doubts from her mind, but they were there. A speaker loudly announced that her flight was boarding so she sadly made her way over to the flight.

Lauren had been on the plane for three hours now. When she asked the plane attendant how long they had left she told her around four hours. This plane was smaller than the last and so Lauren was stuck between two plump women fussing over her. They had seen her pendant with the blue that was touching the red and begun to worry about her. Both of their pendants were blue and Lauren could tell by the way they gazed at each other they were together. They asked the flight attendant multiple times for blankets and pillows, complaining loudly that it was too cold and a thin-boned girl like Lauren would surely freeze. She was sweating under the sea of blankets on top of her, but the women seemed so happy to help her, she couldn't resist their constant fretting. Eventually one had fallen asleep (snoring very loudly) and the other one had started knitting what looked like a scarf. Lauren found them very comforting and liked having them beside her. She rested her head back on one of the thousands of pillows around her and looked at the movie that was in front of her. A man was looking very intently into a beautiful woman's eyes, his lips moving. She couldn't hear the sound but she figured he was complimenting her on something. She looked down at her hands which had curled into fists.

The woman knitting placed her hand on top of Lauren's. "It'll be okay, sweetheart," she crooned. "Your match will be perfect and he will look at you like that man on the screen looks at that woman." She reached up and brushed a tear off of Lauren's cheek. "It's okay to be scared, but everything will be perfect." Lauren rested her head on the woman's shoulder.

"Thank you." Lauren's voice was thick from trying not to cry. The old woman patted her hand.

"You can call me Lucinda," she told her. "And what's your name darling?"

"Lauren Black." Lauren turned to look at the sleeping woman on her left.

"She's Georgia. She's perfect isn't she?" Lucinda gazed at her match in awe.

Lauren giggled. "The snoring doesn't get to you?" she joked.

"Not at all," she laughed. "I can't hear the greatest, but I like knowing she's close."

At the mention of being close Lauren looked down at her necklace. She almost gasped in shock. The blue was almost full. They weren't even close to Portugal though! As Lauren watched the blue color started to leave the pendant. Lauren looked around in shock and watched as Lucinda grabbed the pendant and watched the color seep back to nearly half full. To Lauren's surprise, Lucinda started to laugh. Lauren glared and she stopped.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. It's just that your match is on a plane to the states." Seeing the look of horror on Lauren's face she quickly continued. "It'll be fine. It happens all the time. It happened to me and Georgia." She chuckled again. "Don't be silly like we were. We both traveled back to where we came from. You should probably stay in Portugal for a while to see if he comes back. He more than likely noticed his pendant. You'll just have to be patient."

Lauren felt like crying even more. What she wanted to do more than anything in the world was to go back to the United States and continue to look for her match. She wondered if he would have the same plan, to stay there and wait for her. She sighed and leaned back. She vaguely heard Lucinda asking for ibuprofen and then Lauren was swallowing them for the headache she barely noticed she had. She fell asleep to the sound of Lucinda's clicking needles and Georgia's snoring.

The next thing she knew Lucinda was shaking her shoulder to wake her up. She grabbed her carry on and stumbled along the jet bridge of the plane. She got off and stretched her arms before Georgia poked her back to keep her moving. She got into the airport in Lisbon and looked around. It was beautiful, with paintings of the beaches everywhere and black marble statues. There was also a brightly lighted McDonalds attached to the airport. Lauren licked her lips and was about to march over there when she remembered the two old ladies. She turned around in a circle and spotted them looking at a stand full of magazines. Lucinda was pouring over a one about knitting and it looked like Georgia was peeking through one about a new movie. They both turned when Lauren walked up.

"We wondered if you would come say goodbye," Georgia said. She gave her a surprisingly strong hug and kissed her cheek. "Where are you going to stay?" she asked.

"I was going to try and find a hotel somewhere around here so I can get on a plane as soon as possible," Lauren told her.

Lucinda made a tittering sound. "Calm down, sweetie. A hotel won't do for something precious like you. Come on, we can talk about it while we get some food into you."

After talking over a medium fry and burger, it was decided that Lauren would be spending the night with Lucinda and Georgia. Their adopted child had moved out and so there was a spare bedroom in the attic. They ordered a cab and soon the three women were driving the half hour to the beach house. Looking out the window, the whole place was spectacular. The sand on the beaches was a beautiful white and the ocean was a startling blue. Living in Oregon her whole life, not near the coast, she had only seen the ocean twice when her family had decided to take the trip down there. She had never seen a palm tree before and they were beautiful. She wondered aloud why everyone didn't live here. Lucinda glanced over at her.

"It's a secret how perfect it is," she told her, "or else everyone would want to live here." We finally pulled up to a beautiful white house with painted red shutters. It was raised on stilts and Lauren guessed it was for flood precautions. Lucinda paid the driver and got out and Lauren and Georgia followed her out of the car to the trunk where all of their stuff was. They brought it all inside and made her leave her shoes at the door. Lauren was shocked. The house was beautifully decorated with huge leather couches and a flat screen television in the first room they entered. They passed glass doors that showed into a dining room where a mahogany table gleamed underneath a beautiful crystal chandelier. The kitchen was all stainless steel appliances with a small table in the middle with high backed black chairs. The couple led Lauren over to a set of stairs.

"Your room is right up there," Lucinda told her. "Georgia and I don't like climbing up the stairs too much plus it's only the attic that was redecorated into a bedroom."

"Alright," Lauren said. "Thank you so much."

"Of course, sweetheart," Georgia said. Lauren made her way up the rickety stairs into the huge attic. It was dark except for the small stream of light coming from a small circle window so she found the light switch and turned it on. It lit up a cord of twinkling lights strategically run around the room. The first thing she noticed was the bed; it was huge, with a white coverlet. She had to refrain herself from running and jumping on it. Instead she looked at the rest of the room. All of the furniture looked like it had once been brown but had been quickly brushed with white paint. She took a step forward and she felt a soft carpet underneath her feet. She glanced down and it too was white. She set her bags by the bottom of the bed and crawled into the bed. It was warm and soft and somehow reminded her of home. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep.

When she woke up again, the small stream of light was gone from the window. She walked over to the circular window and peeked out. It looked out on to the beach. She watched as Lucinda and Georgia walked barefoot across the sand. Lauren had a sudden urge to do that with her match. She looked down at her pendant. Only a small portion of it was blue. She wondered where her match was right now. Was he staring out a window, trying to picture her face? Or was he already setting up a way to get back here? The pendant pulsed in her hand, steadier than her own heart. She sighed and got back under the warmth of the bed.

She woke up to the smell of pancakes coming up from kitchen. She got up and stretched and looked into a mirror. She had fallen asleep in the clothes she had been wearing yesterday and they were rumpled almost as much as her hair which was sticking in all directions. She found a comb in her suitcase and then found a pair of flowered shorts and a blue shirt which she quickly threw on and went downstairs.

"Mornin', sweetheart." It was Lucinda; she had a huge stack of pancakes sitting on the table and she was still at the stove making scrambled eggs. "Sit down and enjoy a nice breakfast. You must be starving. Georgia and I almost woke you up for dinner but we decided the thing you needed was some sleep. You had a pretty rough day yesterday."

"Thank you," Lauren mumbled, embarrassed. Her parents were normally the ones who acted like she was something very delicate and that she needed the best things in life to survive. She sat down at the black table and grabbed two pancakes she drowned in syrup. She hadn't realized that she was that hungry. She ate five pancakes and two servings of eggs. She was surprised she could even move because she was so stuffed. She got up to help with the dishes but the matched couple shooed her out the door, saying that she needed to see beautiful Portugal.

She walked barefoot out the back door to the beach and sprinted over to the water to get her feet wet. It felt amazingly warm. She looked around at all of the happy people. She wondered if she could ever be that happy. After she wondered that she got angry at herself. _You have a match that's looking for you right now,_ she told herself. _You should be doing the same._ She decided that she would try and find a computer to use in one of the shops she had seen on her way to Lucinda and Georgia's house.

She ran up to her room and grabbed her purse and some tennis shoes. She told Georgia where she was headed and then started walking towards the tiny village. It was beautiful, with colorful little shops everywhere. People had small stands set up everywhere, selling swimsuits, sunglasses, even a small stand selling flowers. She tried to see everything, but there was so much to see. She went into a couple of the stores and the air conditioning was enough to make her want to stay. The colors were so bright and amazing she wanted all of it.

She found a little smoothie shop with a tiny sign that promised a computer. She gently pushed the door open and hesitantly went inside. There was a giant man behind the counter juggling different bottles. A group of tourists huddled around him applauding. Lauren laughed and turned to see a very old computer sitting in an unused corner. She strode over there and powered the computer on. She opened up the airport's website and looked for planes that traveled back to America. A plane didn't go back there until tomorrow night. Lauren sighed and searched for planes coming to Portugal from America. When she saw that one landed in fifteen minutes Lauren jumped out of her seat and raced into the packed street. She tried sprinting, but it was too crowded to even walk. Luckily, she found an alley and raced down it. It led onto a less busy street, with cars driving by. She stopped a taxi and threw herself in. She told the driver the address of the airport and then he was speeding down the streets of Portugal.

Lauren was bouncing impatiently in her seat as they made the twenty minute drive. When they arrived Lauren ran out without paying the driver. He shouted after her, but she was already running as fast as she could towards the airport. She threw open the doors and looked around frantically. She saw a sign that was hung over a heavy grey door that read _Chicago, Illinois._ She flew over to the attendant standing next to the door. The woman stared at Lauren but told her that the flight was landing as they spoke. Lauren could only nod. She sat down, her whole body shaking.

It felt like forever for all of the people to get into the airport. She stood and stared at each person as they strode by her. Finally, she saw a boy a little older than her enter into the airport. He had bright red hair and freckles all over his face and arms. He smiled at her and she was about to run into his arms as he turned to a short woman and whispered something in her ear. Lauren turned away, embarrassed. He was probably talking about how she kept staring at him. She slowly made her way back outside. She couldn't believe he hadn't been on the plane. She looked down at her pendant and the blue sliver seemed smaller than ever. She sighed and walked out the door.

The taxi driver was waiting for her outside. Lauren groaned and went to go apologize and pay. She reached over for her purse and grabbed thin air. She looked and found that it wasn't on her shoulder.

"I think I must have left it inside," she told him. He grunted and went over to sulk by his car and wait for her. She ran back in and searched everywhere. Without her purse she didn't have the debit card that her parents were going to fill for her throughout the trip. She couldn't find it anywhere! Lauren told herself that she must have left it in the smoothie shop. She made her way back to the taxi driver and told him what happened. He glared suspiciously at her but opened the back door for her anyway. On the way back Lauren tried her best not to lose all hope. She had two hundred dollars in her suitcase, but that was definitely not enough for a plane ride back. Plus by the time she got back to Lucinda and Georgia's house it would be fifty dollars for the taxi. She sighed inwardly and wondered how she was going to get through this trip.

When she got to the smoothie shop she jumped out of the taxi and ran inside. There was a different group of tourists and the bartender was a woman now, but other than that it was the same. She glanced over to the computer and sighed of relief. Her purse was sitting on the table. As she walked over she noticed that the purse had been dumped upside down. Receipts and gum wrappers littered the table but both her wallet and her cell phone were missing. She searched all of the pockets of her purse and underneath the table, but she knew it wasn't there. Defeated, she slowly made her way out of the shop and over to where the taxi driver was. She told him what happened but that she would have money for him if he drove her to the old couple's house. He agreed to drive her but he was looking distraught.

When they arrived Lauren ran upstairs to the guest room and got the money for him. She apologized about everything and the driver looked sympathetic for her. When he was gone she went back up to the attic. She fell onto the bed and prepared herself for the tears she had been trying to hold back the all day. Surprisingly they didn't come and that made her feel stronger. She turned onto her side and decided that in the morning she would have a plan.

Lauren woke up and walked downstairs to find Lucinda and Georgia already gone with a note on the fridge;

 _Morning Sweetie, Lucy and I are heading out to go shopping. Help yourself to anything you find. Have a good day, make sure to have fun. Love, Georgia_

Lauren set the note on the counter and found a green apple in the fridge that she munched on as she thought about her plan. There was a harbor that she had seen when she had been looking for a computer. She would find one going to America and try to convince the captain to let her travel with them. If luck was on her side, she would be able to get to America in less than a week. She decided to wait for Lucinda and Georgia to get home before she left.

By the time they had gotten home Lauren's bags were packed and waiting by the door. The couple came in holding a huge amount of groceries considering it was just the two of them. They saw her bags and stopped short.

"Where are you going?" Lucinda asked.

Lauren looked down at her feet, "I'm going to the harbor to see if I can find a ship that will take me to America."

Georgia set her bags on the ground and wrapped her arms around Lauren, "We're going to miss you so much. Are you sure you need to go now?"

"Yes," Lauren assured her. "Thank you so much for everything you have done."

"Of course," Lucinda said. They fussed over her for the next half hour, filling her bag with the majority of the food they had just bought. They offered to drive her and when Lauren declined the offer they both gave her huge hugs and kissed her forehead. Lauren was surprised she didn't start crying when Lucinda did but Lauren stayed strong and waved as she walked down the steps onto the sidewalk.

When Lauren got to the harbor she was surprised how big it was. The ships were giant and Lauren was scared to go ask the workers where each one was headed. A man in cutoff jeans and a thin tank top bumped into her and she decided to ask him.

"Excuse me." She tapped him on the shoulder. "Which ship is headed to America?" she tentatively asked. He raised one of his eyebrows, clearly not understanding her. He started walking away and Lauren stared after him. He turned and beckoned her to come with him so she quickly followed him. He led her to a huge ship where a woman probably in her late thirties was shouting commands at all of the workers around her. She was very strong and her light brown hair was pulled back into a long braid. She saw Lauren coming near her and narrowed her brow.

"¿Que es?" she asked the man.

"Esta chica necesita a alguien que hable Inglés," he quickly said. Lauren stared at them, not knowing how to speak Spanish. The woman turned her hardened gaze on Lauren.

"What do you want?" she asked Lauren.

Lauren nervously played with her necklace. "I was just wondering which of these ships go to America."

The woman smirked, "That would be mine. Why do you need to know?"

"I just-," Lauren stammered, "I just wanted to know if maybe I could tag along. I could help and work it's just someone stole my wallet and I have no way of getting-"

The woman cut her off. "Slow down there. I have to warn you it gets bad out there on the sea. You might not make it back."

Lauren gulped. "That's okay," she lied. "Does that mean I can go?"

The woman stared at her for a moment and Lauren fidgeted under her cold gaze. "I guess," she slowly said. She smiled and her entire face changed, becoming beautiful."I need another girl on the ship anyway. My names Jane, by the way."

""I'm Lauren. Thank you so much." Jane nodded and turned away to give orders to two men carrying a heavy box onto the ship. Lauren hesitantly followed the two men.

Inside the ship it was complete chaos. Workers were everywhere, carrying huge boxes filled with who knows what. Lauren imagined giant doll parts in each box and smiled to herself. She jumped out of the way as two workers nearly walked over her. She went down some stairs where she found herself in a giant dining area. A group of people were sitting down at one of the thick wood tables playing cards. A man in overalls saw her and called her over to them. She tentatively walked over.

"Who're you?" he grunted.

"I'm Lauren," she said. "Who are you?"

The men laughed but the man in overalls looked offended by the question. " _I'm_ Peter." he told her.

"He thinks he's very important," a man with an Irish accent said. "I'm Brian," he said as he stood to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you. What are you doing on this ship? The only other girl here is Jane."

"I need to get to America," she told him. "My match is there." She pulled out her necklace to show them the blue coloring. At that Peter abruptly got up from the table and slammed his way out of the dining room. Lauren looked confusedly at Brian.

Brian was worriedly staring at the door Peter had slammed. "He's been looking for his match for five years. He's been traveling everywhere searching for her. I think he might give up soon," he sighed. He seemed to realize what he told a stranger and glanced up at Lauren. He smiled and patted the chair next to him. "How 'bout a game of cards?"

Lauren spent the next six days spending time with Brian and Jane. Jane seemed very happy to have a girl to talk to. She seemed to have adopted all of her workers and said that they were like her kids. Her match was a huge man named John that was always singing Broadway songs. Jane told her that whenever they anchored in a harbor he would go see a musical. Jane said she hated them but Lauren caught her humming some of the songs.

Brian loved playing cards almost as much as he loved reading. He was always quoting poetry at her and curling up on a chair reading classics. He talked to her about everything and introduced her to loads of people on the ship.

Lauren had gotten used to Peter. Normally he just walked out of room when Lauren entered. At first she was offended but Jane told her he had done that to Jane the first couple of weeks he had gotten on the ship. Women reminded him of his missing match and so he avoided them as much as possible. Sometimes he would stay at the table when Lauren would sit down but he would ignore her completely.

The ship was going to dock in just a couple hours and Lauren was very excited. Her tiny room she shared with three other men was a complete mess and Lauren quickly shoved everything in her bag. The food Lucinda and Georgia had packed for her was completely gone. Her roommates and she had stayed up late eating all of the food after they had had choked down the ship's food. She had on white jeans and a dark blue silk shirt. Her black hair had been carefully braided by Jane and she had her pendant tucked under her blouse. She had gotten used to wearing it like that around Peter. She grabbed her orange suitcase and went up to the deck. She could see the silhouette of Massachusetts and it was a nice break from all the blue she had seen for almost a week. The ocean sprayed a salty mist onto her skin and made the hair that slipped from her braid curl.

"Almost there." Lauren jumped and turned to see Jane behind her. She was dressed in dark jeans and a red top that made her hazel eyes look brown. "I've always loved Boston," Jane said. "It's where I grew up."

"Really?" Lauren turned to the dark mass that was coming closer. "I've wanted to go there since I was a little girl." Lauren kept talking about it because knew that she would have to say goodbye soon but she didn't want to. Lauren had wanted to get to America more than anything and now that she was almost there she didn't want to leave all of the friends she had met on the ship. As if knowing what she was thinking, Jane reached over and hugged her.

"I'm going to miss you. Who else's hair can I braid?" she joked.

"If Brian's gets any longer just braid his," Lauren answered. Jane laughed and squeezed her harder before letting go. "I'm going to miss you too," Lauren said. "I promise I'll come find your ship again."

Jane smiled and Lauren was surprised to see tears in the strong woman's eyes. "Well then I won't say goodbye for now," Jane said. "Now I have to go get everyone ready to get off." They hugged again and then Jane went down into the heart of the ship. Lauren stared at the land and went over to stand by the railing. They were probably one hundred feet from land and Lauren was feeling very nervous. A shadow passed behind her and Lauren turned, expecting Brian. Instead it was Peter, standing very close. Lauren took a surprised step backwards.

"Hey," she said. "We're almost there." She cursed herself for stating the obvious, but she had no idea what else to say.

"Your necklace," he said. "Let me see it."

Lauren narrowed her eyebrows but pulled out her necklace anyway. She was shocked to see that all but a tiny sliver was blue. She showed it to Peter. "He's close," she said.

Peter looked livid. "Just a week of looking and you've almost found him," he whispered. Lauren protectively closed her hand around the beating pendant.

"I'm sorry about your match," she cautiously said. She felt scared and her whole body was filled with alarm. "You'll find her." No one else was on the main deck and Lauren tried to walk away from Peter.

Peter reached out and pushed Lauren, making her trip on the slick surface of the wood. She stumbled backwards and her back slammed against the railing. Peter picked her up and laughed a completely empty laugh that filled Lauren with dread. He lifted her over the railing and threw her off of the ship. Lauren screamed and then slammed against the freezing water. She was completely submerged, thrashing wildly trying to get air. Her head broke through and she took a deep gulp of air before a wave crashed over her head, throwing her back under.

Lauren felt her lungs screaming and her subconscious told her that she was going to die. She tried swinging her arms but they felt heavy underneath the water. She couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down. Just when she felt the consciousness leaving her body her head broke the surface and she was breathing the salty air. She turned frantically in the water trying to find the ship. It was far away; Lauren would never be able to catch up. Even if she could she wouldn't catch anyone's attention. The land was far away but she had no other choice. Thankfully her parents had given her swim lessons when she was younger. She was exhausted to swim but she couldn't tread water forever. She tried to remember what she was taught about swimming in the ocean. Go diagonally and it will be easier than going straight towards land. She started slowly making her way towards Boston. A picture of a giant fish and a shark crossed her mind and she began swimming as fast as she could towards land.

Lauren's entire body ached by the time she reached land. Her body was freezing and her fingers looked like prunes. She pulled herself onto the shore laid there gasping for breath. _At least you didn't get eaten by a giant fish_ , she thought. She tried to laugh and ended up coughing up water. She started blacking out and tried to climb up the beach so someone could see her. She fell and started crawling. She heard shouting and felt arms around her before everything went black.

Lauren's eyes slowly opened. She was lying on her back on a soft bed. She was in a hospital room surrounded by people. A nurse came over to her and gave her a glass of water. Lauren gulped it down before the nurse could tell her to slow down. She was parched even though she thought she had swallowed the whole ocean.

"Where am I?" she asked. She saw that everyone was there: Jane, Brian, Lucinda, Georgia, even Charlie, Jessica, and Michael.

"Boston," Jessica said. "You've been out for two days. When we heard what happened we came right over."

"How did you find me?" Lauren asked. "I didn't have my ID."

"Well that's what's interesting." It was Lucinda who talked. "A young gentleman found you and that young man is our son. He called us to see what he should do. When he described what you looked like we knew it was you. So we flew over and called your parents."

Lauren vaguely remembered giving them her number to call her before she left. "What was your son doing in Boston?" At that question everyone smiled. Lauren stared at everyone, confused.

Just then the door opened and a tall, dark haired man came in. He had bright blue eyes and a green sweater on. He was holding four coffees in his hand and he shyly smiled when he saw that Lauren was awake. Lauren looked down at her pendant and saw that it was completely blue and that the heart beat was stronger than it had ever been. She gasped as she realized what was going on.

Georgia smiled at Lauren. "He was looking for you."


End file.
